ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG Monitor Review - 27-inch 1440p 240Hz Sweet Spot Gaming

TweakTown's Rating: 95%

The Bottom Line

ASUS hits the sweet spot for competitive gaming with the ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG as its 240Hz refresh rate converts any competitive game title to a buttery in-game experience, and it is fairly reasonably priced.

Pros

• OLED panel
• Gaming performance
• Ideal for competitive high frame rate gaming
• Beautiful design

Cons

• HDMI ports don't support 240Hz
• No USB-C port
• WOLED isn't as good as QD-OLED

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Amazon for $699

Buy at Newegg for $699.99

Introduction & Specification Details and Close-up

OLED gaming will eventually become the standard way to play games, and in 2024, we are starting to see a bunch of new gaming monitor options for gamers to consider. Which should you buy?

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ASUS has released the ROG Strix XG27AQDMG, a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor with a blistering fast 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time across a 2560 x 1440 resolution. The XG27AQDMG hits the sweet spot for competitive gaming, as the 27-inch display enables deep immersion, and the 240Hz refresh rate enables a buttery smooth in-game experience. It is available for a reasonable price of $699.99 (discounted from $749.99 on Amazon).

$699.99 is still quite a bit to shell out for a new gaming monitor, but it is also quite reasonable when you are attempting to future-proof yourself for at least five years and are also wanting the best gaming experience you possibly can for the games you play most. ASUS states in its marketing material that the XG27AQDMG provides up to 20% brighter visuals compared to previous generated ROG monitors, which can be attributed to the WOLED panel sources from LG. We shall see if this claim is even noticeable, if the XG27AQDMG is an improvement over the PG27AQDM released last year, and if that improvement is worth your money.

Specifications

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Close-up

ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG Gaming Monitor

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$699	$699	$699	$699	Buy
	$699.99	-	-	$699.99	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 10/15/2024 at 10:09 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.

Design

ASUS is no stranger to creating beautifully designed gaming monitors, as the company arguably has reigned supreme in that department for quite some time. Like the PG27AQDM, the XG27AQDMG is no exception, as it features the same aesthetics and panel housing. The XG27AQDMG has the same premium look to it as the PG27AQDM and has the same five-minute setup process that involves simply screwing in the monitor base and then clicking in the stand to the display. The build quality is very high quality, which is something I would expect out of ASUS and a monitor with this price tag. After a close-up inspection, I'm happy to report that I couldn't find any vulnerable points of failure.

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Moving to the back of the panel, I first noticed the exceptional thinness of the XG27AQDMG. The 5mm thickness is impressive and was a highlight of the PG27AQDM, which measures the same width. The bulging backplate on the XG27AQDMG is the same as the PG27AQDM and, according to ASUS, contains a custom heatsink to reduce heat generated from the monitor that can lead to OLED burn-in. Keeping to the back, a very large ASUS logo automatically cycles through various colors and is customizable via the OSD. The logo looks sweet and adds to the XG27AQDMG's premium aesthetic - it's a welcomed addition in my book.

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ASUS deciding to change the stand on the XG27AQDMG to a classic compact single-foot-square design is also a welcomed change as a comment complaint of mine about ASUS gaming monitors is the choice of going with a three-pronged stand that's feet typically protrude beyond the length of the display, making them potentially troublesome for gamers with little desk real-estate or gamers that play competitive shooters at a low sensitivity, which calls for larger swipes across a mouse mat. The XG27AQDMG has eliminated those worries, and ASUS even took things a step further and carved out a trench in the monitor stand designed for smartphones.

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Keeping to the stand, ASUS has placed a cable management hole in the stand of the XG27AQDMG. On the back, you'll find a very clean ROG logo and the "ROG" branding.

Panel Breakdown

As previously mentioned, ASUS has opted for a WOLED panel for the XG27AQDMG over Samsung's QD-OLED panels, which are consistently popping up in various sizes from a variety of different gaming monitor brands. The difference between WOLED and QD-OLED is the sub-pixel layout, which, in the case of WOLED, or White Organic Light Emitting Diode, there is the addition of a white pixel next to the already present red, blue, and green subpixels.

Why put an additional pixel strictly for white? LG claims the white pixel enables maximum brightness to be increased, a key problem for OLED displays as increasing the brightness also increases heat and the risk of dread burn-in. Typically, sub-pixel layouts consist of red, green, and blue, and white is achieved by emitting light from all three sub-pixels simultaneously.

In the case of the XG27AQDMG versus the PG27AQDM, there was no noticeable difference in maximum brightness despite the specifications stating the XG27AQDMG is more capable than its predecessor. There was a difference in peak HDR brightness, as the discrepancy between the XG27AQDMG and the PG27AQDM in HDR brightness is much greater than the delta between average or typical brightness.

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It should be noted that this small change in brightness is only noticeable when a side-by-side comparison is made. The XG27AQDMG brightness in SDR is about what I would expect from an OLED gaming monitor, and unfortunately, the WOLED panel still suffers from text fringing issues. For those who don't know, text fringing is like a halo effect on text that makes it difficult to read. Third-generation QD-OLED panels, especially with higher PPIs have pretty much ironed this problem out.

At 27-inch QHD, the XG27AQDMG has a 108 PPI, which unfortunately doesn't help the text fringing situation. I would like to see this same panel at 4K and see if the text fringing problem still occurs. I believe it would be significantly reduced, at the very least, as I can see an improvement from the WOLED panel in the PG27AQDM compared to the third-generation WOLED panel found in the XG27AQDMG.

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Another mentionable improvement is the XG27AQDMG uses less power than the PG27AQDM, with the XG27AQDMG using 25W and the PG27AQDM using 38W. While being an unnoticeable point from a gamer's point of view, the reduction in power consumption highlights the efficiency that has been worked into the newer model and is a testament to the improvement in engineering. Unfortunately, the glossy coating does show reflections even in standard ambient lighting, especially when the desktop displays black colors. As with all OLED panels, they are best used in total darkness or with all light sources behind the monitor.

Performance

The XG27AQDMG's gaming performance is arguably the most ideal combination of specifications and price for a competitive gamer. At 27 inches, competitive titles such as Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, League of Legends, Valorant, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty all felt incredibly immersive. The 27-inch display is big enough to have an appropriate amount of screen real estate but also small enough to take up the main focal area of your vision.

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All of the aforementioned titles paired perfectly with the 240Hz refresh rate, which made for a buttery smooth in-game experience that, just like the PG27AQDM, made me feel extremely dangerous in-game. I prefer a 32-inch monitor, as it's more versatile, being larger for slower RPG titles and media consumption. However, if all you play is competitive titles, the 27-inch size is perfect for you. The XG27AQDMG will knock your socks off in any fast-paced shooter you throw at it, and the 0.03ms response time, thanks to the OLED panel technology, really is an underappreciated step up from 1+ms response time that is commonplace across other LCD monitors.

Final Thoughts

So, is the XG27AQDMG worth buying over the PG27AQDM? In short, yes, as ASUS has made considerable improvements to the XG27AQDMG compared to the PG27AQDM. But it's mostly the fact that the XG27AQDMG is currently priced on Amazon at $699, while the PG27AQDM is priced at $754, down from $800.

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A few downsides of the XG27AQDMG that I would have liked to see would be the inclusion of a USB-C port capable of at least 25W of PD charging. Additionally, I would have liked to see the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 ports to enable the panel's full 240Hz refresh rate capabilities. Unfortunately, the XG27AQDMG is limited to 144Hz over HDMI due to the HDMI 2.0 ports capping out at that refresh rate at QHD. For gamers flexing between PC and console, this probably won't be a problem as DisplayPort will be used with the PC, and consoles don't get even close to 240Hz.

The XG27AQDMG is a perfect gaming monitor for a gamer flexing between console and PC gaming, plays competitive shooters capable of a high framerate, and doesn't do a lot of word processing. The XG27AQDMG is an impressive monitor overall, and that hinges on its price. For $699, the XG27AQDMG is a great pick-up, and it's commonly known that ASUS ROG products do come with a tax compared to their competitors, which is why it's great to see the XG27AQDMG so appropriately priced.

Ultimately, the XG27AQDMG hits the sweet spot for competitive gaming and would make any competitive gamer feel dangerous in-game.